Happy Ending
by Starkaster
Summary: Ed saved the world and retired to a quiet life with the woman he thought he loved. Happily ever after, right? Whatever...


In the two years he had spent in Risembool since the uprising in central, Edward Elric fully realized that in real life there are no "The End"s. No matter how hard a person struggles, no matter how much a person sacrifices to overcome some obstacle, there will always be another struggle, another obstacle, and more suffering. People _never_ stop changing. Time _never _stops. And no matter how many deluded romance novelists would like to think otherwise: stories don't end until a person is dead. And even then other lives pick up the narrative. That's life. Problems, stuggles, heartaches, success—then more problems. Sometimes you're happy. Sometimes you're content. Sometimes you're upset. But most of the time you're too damn busy to be much of anything.

With the end of the being known as 'homunculus', and Alphonse's body back where it belonged, Edward had at one point believed that this was it for his story. He had done it all. He got knocked down. He got back up. He got knocked down again, but he got back up again. And at the end the good guys won, fifty million souls were back where they belonged, his brother got his body back, he had gotten his arm back, and the only notable change in his lifestyle was that he would _never_ be able to use Alchemy again. But that was okay. He was going home. For the first time in years he was going home and, for at least a little while, he was going to stay there. Guilt free. He was going to do normal things. He was going to be lazy. He was going to learn how to hammer nails into the Rockbell roof. He was going to learn how to shear a sheep. He was going to learn how to assist granny when she performed automail port surgery. He was going to read stupid novels with happy endings lying in the long grass on the riverbank with the wind in his hair and his bare feet dangling in cool waters.

He was going to take his time.

That was the best part of slaying your dragon and saving the better part of the known world while simultaneously divesting yourself of all future responsibilities by handicapping your greatest talent. Life slows down. He could breathe in peace.

Nobody really expected much from Edward Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist anymore. That person didn't exist anymore. He was just Ed. And aside from being one of the world's most renowned experts of alchemy without being able to _practice_ alchemy; nobody looked him up—aside from the odd letter from his many friends. Disappearing from the public eye and retiring to the middle sheep country could do that. He hadn't exactly left a contact address for well-wishers. And the military wasn't exactly keen to give out his location. Not when he had friends like Lt. Colonel Alex Louis Armstrong and the newly promoted Lt. General Roy Mustang watching his back.

When he and Al had first returned home, Edward had been almost certain that his own 'happily ever after' would in some way shape or form include Winry. But as he found out over the course of two years, living apart and yearning fondly was one chasm of a difference from living within constant wrench (or other hard projectiles) throwing distance of the very quick-tempered and volatile girl he had nearly fallen in love with.

And as much as he still _wanted _that happy ending; real life happened. Things _changed_. Or maybe they stayed the same.

Eyes wide open.

"The roof over my workshop is leaking again, Ed."

"Didn't I just go up and fix that yesterday?"

"You did. But there's another leak in the south-east corner this time."

"I told you the whole roof needs replacing. I found a contractor in town who will put on a whole new tiled roof for 200 000 cenz."

"This house doesn't need a whole new roof, Ed. We can't afford frivolous expenses. Not when it's just as easy to go up and hammer a few new boards in and throw some tar down. What's the big deal?"

"If it's not a big deal, _you_ go up and fix it. I've been up there every second day for the past _month_. It's _inefficient_. Labour is cheap right now with all the unemployment due to the military cutbacks. It makes sense to get the roof replaced now. I said I'd pay for half of it, didn't I?"

"The money's not the point, Ed. I'm just saying if you're going to mope around the house you could at least help us save money by doing something productive with your time."

"_Moping? _You think I'm_ moping?_"

"What else do you call lazing around reading those alchemy papers?"

"Just because I can't do alchemy doesn't make all the knowledge about alchemy I have _useless_, Winry. There are only two or three people in all of Amestris who know more about Alchemy than I do. I read the latest publications so it _stays_ that way. Not," Edward continued grumpily, "that there's much worth reading usually."

He'd published six papers on alchemic theory since his retirement, and all six had spawned all sorts of idiotic derivative theories. Sometimes it felt like he was the only sensible alchemist in Amestris. Reading perversions of his theories always made him irritable. Writing angry letters to the editor only assuaged his temper so much.

"I just don't think it's healthy. Look, if you don't want to go up on the roof, at least help me sort and tag screws. You need to take a break from Alchemy, Ed. Find another – where are you going?"

"Into town to hire a work crew to do the roof so I don't have to listen to you try to convince me I should be moping because I can't do Alchemy anymore. I'm perfectly happy doing what I do – I only wish you could be happy too."

"I never said that! I never said I'm _not!_ Don't twist my words!" Ed ducked quickly through the door, just as a wrench banged off the doorframe. "I'm just trying to help you!"

"By bashing my brains in?" Edward snapped.

"That's the only way I know how to get through that thick skull of yours! I'm trying to help and you won't _let me!_ You must be the most stubborn man in existence!"

The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Distance had made his heart grow fonder, but familiarity only bred contempt.

The ports in his leg were aching as he trudged into town, but that was fair. That was life.

Ed gazed up into the grey. It was going to rain.


End file.
